Reporters were furious Friday after chairs for them at President Donald Trump‘s joblessness declaration were moved more detailed together because it “looks much better” than the social distancing advised by the federal Centers for Illness Control and Prevention
Photos reveal that the chairs in the Rose Garden were initially set up at least 6 feet apart, as suggested by the CDC to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 The chairs were rearranged Friday because it “ looks better,” the press workplace told the White House Correspondents Association.
Though the White House billed Trump’s declaration as an interview, he took no questions, so the reporters didn’t even need to be there.
Jonathan Karl, chief White House reporter for ABC News and president of the reporters association, assaulted the relocation as a “flagrant infraction of CDC guidelines on social distancing.” He charged that reporters were put at risk to function as a “prop for a so-called ‘press conference’ where the president refuses to answer a single question.”
This is an ostentatious offense of CDC standards on social distancing and a move that puts reporters at risk for the purpose of turning journalism corps into a prop for a so-called “press conference” where the president declines to answer a single question. https://t.co/dgImSBblaO
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) June 5, 2020
Trump commented positively on the seating change, despite the health threats.
White Home deputy press secretary Judd Deere informed CNN that it was his choice to make the modification “It looks better,” he said